Sins of an Empire
by Ticklesivory
Summary: Resurrected Padmé has a plan to rid the Galaxy of the Emperor and his Sith apprentice, although Obi-Wan is not exactly in agreement with her about it. A Post-ROTS AU Obidala: A 'Dearly Departed' Sequel.
1. Chapter 1

**Title** : Sins of an Empire

 **Summary** : Resurrected Padmé has a plan to rid the Galaxy of the Emperor and his Sith apprentice, although Obi-Wan is not exactly in agreement with her about it. A Post-ROTS AU Obidala: A 'Dearly Departed' Sequel.

 **Warnings** : I have to insist you read "Dearly Departed" before you read this, because if you don't, I promise, you won't understand the Padmé I'm writing in this story. Her experiences during Dearly Departed have changed her – in more ways than one.

 **Genre** : Drama/Action

 **Disclaimer** : Story idea is mine, original SW characters are not.

 **Rating** : T+

* * *

 **Chapter One**

There's nothing more beautiful than watching a woman care for her newborn, especially when you're in love with the woman. Obi-Wan's heart swelled with powerful emotions as he observed the interaction between Padmé and her babies. She cooed and cuddled them, and they responded as if she were the center of their universe, and rightfully so.

Even though her traumatic experiences had made her incapable of feeding them naturally, she swaddled them and held them close while they sucked upon their bottled nourishment. All the while, she spoke to them only as a mother could, their eyes focused solely upon her. She promised them health and safety, and that they would always be loved.

Obi-Wan bit his tongue. How could she offer them things neither of them could guarantee? Since their arrival on Alderaan, it seemed as if everything good, everything he had fought to protect had been obliterated. The Jedi, the Senate, the Temple, democracy; all were no more.

The Republic had fallen, and in its place ruled an evil, power-hungry and bloodthirsty Sith Master. And by the Emperor's side, was none other than Obi-Wan's own apprentice.

As far as he could tell, there was no hope for happiness or safety for any of them. And he felt that Padmé shouldn't make her children promises she couldn't keep.

He would do his best to protect them, however. Senator Organa had promised them a safe haven on Alderaan, and it seemed as if Padmé had agreed. Alderaan was a peaceful planet which had shunned violence and weaponry long ago. Surely, it was far from the Emperor's concern. The House of Organa was no threat to his reign. They could stay here as long as they wanted, Bail Organa had told them. He had even offered them a home outside of the palace, and Obi-Wan envisioned the four of them taking up an extended residence there; as a family. Something he had never considered having, but now that he had it, would give his life to protect.

She had named the children Luke and Leia, and they were thriving under her care. For the time-being her promises to them were good. But there was no way of knowing what the future held for them. Master Yoda couldn't even see it. 'Too clouded with darkness, the Force is,' he had said.

The ancient Jedi had bid them farewell days ago. Once assured everyone was safe, Yoda had left for his own remote hiding place; to emerge when needed again, he had told them.

Obi-Wan had watched his mentor leave Alderaan with some trepidation. Once Yoda was gone, he was essentially on his own to figure out what the Force wanted him to do. Tricky, since essentially it was like listening to static. The Dark Side had taken over everything. He could sense its malicious tendrils searching him out, and so it was with some nervousness he watched Master Yoda leave.

Padmé had calmly stood by his side when Yoda departed, her expression quite the opposite of his. She was serene when he was agitated, relaxed when he was apprehensive. He was glad she was so at peace, but he was also concerned about her.

She was not sleeping well and had been having bad dreams lately. Most of them involved scenes of destruction, chaos and genocide. He had tried to explain it was to be expected, now that they knew what had been occurring all over the galaxy. Apparently, whoever stood up to the Emperor paid the ultimate price: total annihilation. No wonder she was having nightmares.

Obi-Wan awoke to the sound of crying and forced himself to awareness. He did as much as he could to help with the babies, but usually Padmé beat him to it. This time, he had managed to reach them before they had woken her up.

"What's the matter little ones?" he asked while picking up one in his right arm and the other in his left. They both gazed up at him with wide eyes, quieting immediately upon hearing his voice. The little girl, Leia was more easy-going and reminded him so much of her mother. While Luke, was the one with the loudest cry and had far more to complain about. His little lip curled after discovering Obi-Wan wasn't his mother and he quickly stepped outside of the bedroom. Padmé needed rest and he knew he could manage on his own.

"Now, now, Luke. There's no need for all that fuss. You can't be hungry, and," Obi-Wan took a second to check the boy's undergarments, "you're not wet. What's the matter?"

The more he spoke, the calmer Luke became. Leia had already fallen back asleep, he noticed as he wandered into the common area and sat down upon the sofa.

"Perhaps, you'd like to hear a story. Let me tell you about the time I was trapped in a cave surrounded by draigons…"

* * *

She was walking pale stone streets, surrounded by spiraling towers of alabaster. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Aldara City. People smiled as they passed by, some asked her how she was doing. She proudly told them she was fine. Her family was just fine, she would clarify. A peaceful sensation filled her when she said the words, because she knew it was true. She was safe, her children were safe, and they were loved. Obi-Wan was with them. He had vowed to protect them and love them until his final breath. She believed him. Everything was perfect.

At least until the screaming began. Padmé shielded her eyes and looked up, as everyone else who wasn't running away did. Galloping toward them across the sky at great speed was a bright light. It was green in color and expanding in size as it approached. This was no meteor or asteroid. This was death. She was absolutely certain of it.

There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. All those who ran past her, as well as those who stood transfixed, staring at their impending doom all died within a matter of seconds. The entire planet of Alderaan had been destroyed and she had been forced to watch.

Padmé jerked upright in the bed, her breath coming out in ragged pants., her heart pounding against her chest. She had been experiencing quite a few vivid dreams lately, but this one was the most disturbing yet. She had seen entire populations and cities destroyed, Jedi in hiding discovered and assassinated, but never an entire planet!

She wasn't sure what it all meant, but she couldn't just sit and wait for it to happen. She had to somehow convince Obi-Wan that she and the children...

Padmé glanced toward their bassinet to find it empty and an icy fear gripped her heart. She leapt from the bed and ran into the common room, sliding to a stop when she found Obi-Wan holding both her children. All three of them were asleep, but her loud sigh of relief woke him up.

"What is it?" he whispered. "Another dream?"

How could she explain this to him? Make him understand when she wasn't sure she understood herself?

"Obi-Wan, we need to leave Alderaan. It isn't safe here."


	2. Chapter 2

**Sins of an Empire: Chapter Two**

* * *

She was no longer calm, but packing with fervor, her commands softly spoken but urgent. He hadn't even put the babies back down before she had completely emptied the bureau filled with their personal belongings - which there were plenty of. Queen Breha had certainly indulged them.

"Padmé, hold on. Don't you think you're over-reacting?"

"You didn't see what I did," she explained, reaching beneath their bed to pull out more luggage.

"Darling." Obi-Wan placed a hand upon her arm, causing her to pause and look at him. "It was just a dream, and just because it seemed real, doesn't make it so. Dreams are merely messages from our subconscious, events recalled from our past, or our own desires of the future. Nothing more."

"Even to a Jedi?" she asked him sincerely.

"Not necessarily," Obi-Wan answered carefully. Ever since her return, on the outside, she seemed to be the same person she always had been; but underneath the surface, there was something different about her. He couldn't put his finger on it, and apparently nobody had noticed it but him. "If a Jedi dreams, sometimes it's a vision of future possibilities. Not all Jedi have that gift, however." Did she think that's what was happening to her?

"Do you dream?"

"No." Obi-Wan answered plainly. Prescience was not a talent the Force had chosen to bestow upon him. However, he knew Jedi who did possess the skill; his fallen apprentice being one of them.

They never talked about his former Padawan. Hadn't mentioned his name once, but Obi-Wan knew in his heart that someday they would need to. There was healing to be done, and until they could freely discuss their past, they couldn't embrace their future.

"Anakin did," she abruptly said.

Now was as good a time to being the healing process as any, Obi-Wan supposed.

"He dreamed about his mother suffering at the hands of the Sand People. He also dreamed about me dying. Both of which came true, by the way."

And yet another subject they had avoided so far: her death. He was curious to know exactly what had happened to her, but until now, she hadn't mentioned it, and he wasn't going to pry. She would tell him when she was ready.

"So, you think these dreams you're having are omniscient?" He was really trying to keep an open mind here, but Master Yoda had taught him all his life not to trust in visions. 'The future, always changing it is,' was an adage the old Master had said to him hundreds of times. And so, Obi-Wan didn't have much faith in dreams, even if they did seem foretelling.

"But Padmé, you're not…"

"I know," she interrupted him, slamming the lid on the suitcase and immediately glancing toward the children to make sure she hadn't awakened them. "I'm not a Jedi," she informed him more quietly. "I don't have this connection to the Force you have, but there's something going on inside. I can feel it."

It was the first time in weeks he had discovered a chink in her armor, and he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her onto the bed, settling her in his lap. "I'm not dismissing the possibility, and neither am I arguing their vividness. I've heard you cry in your sleep, have held you as you thrashed and fought against invisible demons. I know they seem real, but I'm just not certain we need to load up the children and escape the system quite just yet. Trust me, Padmé. Give it some more time, and maybe things will become clear. Who knows? Your dreams may stop altogether, or they may turn out to be reactions from your traumatic experiences. The mind is a strange thing. It can play tricks on us."

She had listened to him intently, but he could tell by the look in her eye that she wasn't totally convinced. Regardless, she kissed him while her hand began to toy with the hair on the back of his neck; a touch which never failed to arouse him, and she knew it.

A growl came from deep Obi-Wan's throat as he shifted her body to a straddling position, revealing the obvious affect her caress was having on him. He thrust his hips up once just to make sure she understood his intentions.

"The luggage is still on the bed," she informed him, taking his earlobe into her mouth.

"Then we'll just shove it onto the floor. I'll pick it up later." His hands had drifted from her back to her buttocks, pulling her body tightly against him in a methodical, grinding motion.

"You'll wake the children."

"I'll be careful," he promised, pressing his mouth to the opening at the top of her sleeping gown and suckling the pale flesh there.

He had always prided himself on his abilities to multi-task, and while gathering her gown onto her hips with his hands, he levitated the luggage off the bed and gently placed it on the floor.

He was going to move them to the middle of the bed, but Padmé stopped him with a squeeze of her legs. "Stay where you are."

With a solid push to his chest, she shoved him backward, and with one swift movement, her nightgown was floating to the floor.

He'd been wearing his loose leggings to sleep in, but she didn't bother taking them off. As eagerly as she had been packing just a few minutes before, Padmé untied the trousers and sank down upon him; slowly at first, although her movements soon began building speed.

He had the urge to be closer and Obi-Wan sat up and held her against his bare chest as she continued to gyrate over him. But it still wasn't close enough.

He stood up and held onto her, increasing the depth and friction, and causing Padmé's moans to crescendo significantly. He was having a difficult time keeping quiet himself, and quickly walked them both into the common area, where he deposited her onto the sofa and began to move as aggressively as he desired.

She reached the pinnacle first, a pink blush radiating up her chest and neck. He soon followed, collapsing on top of her afterward.

"This is all like a fantastic dream" she gasped while catching her breath. "That other life – the one I had before? That was like a nightmare. You…you were always my dream."

He kissed her temple and settled beside her on the sofa. "And that is the one dream I'm pleased to see come true."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sins of an Empire: Chapter Three**

* * *

The recollection of the dream was scattered, like a puzzle waiting to be put together. It took a moment to gather the pieces, but eventually Padmé was able to view the entire picture. The emotional experience, however, was still fresh and quite evident in her mind. She'd once again been surrounded by death: Icy, cold, and dark. And bodies; bodies lying everywhere. Old and young, humanoid, covered in blood and snow.

The location was all that remained to be seen. She didn't recognize it. If she explained it to Obi-Wan, would he know of the place?

He was sleeping still, as the sun had not yet risen upon Alderaan. The twins were sleeping as well, and Padmé took advantage of this rare moment of solitude to study her most recent vision. She realized the darkness represented her former husband. His hideous masked face was forever burned into her memory. The white plasteel armor of his army was also easily distinguishable. But there was another darkness present this time; shadows which lay hidden just beneath the icy surface she did not recognize. She knew of the ice planet Hoth. This wasn't it. The terrain was different. This was once a populated planet, though no longer, Padmé realized with sadness. Yet again, another peaceful society had succumbed to the evil of the Empire. She knew it was true, despite what Obi-Wan believed. She had to find a way to convince him to believe her!

"Good morning," he said hoarsely as he rolled over to kiss her cheek and wrap her in his arms. "Everything all right?"

She didn't wish to sound like a data recorder playing back on a loop, but her concern was relevant, and time was of the essence. "I had another dream," she told him, eyeing him warily.

"Oh?"

Instead of brushing away the subject as she feared he would, Obi-Wan propped himself up on his elbow and gave her his full attention. When would she learn he was not Anakin? He was supportive, kind, and considerate. And he always listened to her, despite his misgivings.

"Do you know of a place with an icy terrain and lots of snow?" she asked him.

"Hoth perhaps?"

"No, not Hoth," Padmé corrected him. "This is a place heavily populated. Or was," she corrected herself. "And there's something sporadically placed within the snow. They looked like dark pools."

Obi-Wan appeared to be thinking, his brows pinched with consideration. "Are there humanoids there?"

"Yes. Well, there were once."

His free hand came up to brush through his coppery whiskers, a sign he had come to a conclusion. "Tar pools possibly. That sounds like Atoa, a distant planet in the Ghost Nebula. I don't know very much about it."

He had dropped his hand and Padmé replaced it with her own, her fingers lovingly coursing through his beard. "After the babies are changed and fed, I want you to do me a favor. "

"Anything," he replied sincerely, and she believed him.

How had she missed this before? Even though choosing Anakin over him had been a mistake, she couldn't simply wish the past away. She loved her children dearly, and without the relationship she'd had with Anakin, they wouldn't exist. Perhaps that road was the one she had to take to get to this destination. And although she didn't believe in fate or destiny necessarily, she was awfully glad things had worked out the way they did. At least when it came to Obi-Wan.

"I want you to go find Senator Organa and have him check on the status of Atoa."

She could see doubt in his face, and began preparing a debate in her mind.

"I can do that," he announced with a grin. "If it will make you happy."

"It will," she replied, pulling him down for a kiss. "Thank you."

"That's not necessary," he gently scolded her, brushing away a lock of hair from her face. "I'll do anything you ask. You should know that by now."

"I do, I'm sorry. Bad habit," she told him, wondering if she would ever get used to his generosity, especially when it came to making love. Never before had she experienced such pleasure and satisfaction.

"Then allow me to continue to prove my undying devotion and utmost sincerity," he teased, while his hand drifted down to her breast at the exact same time Luke awakened with a cry.

"I'll get him," Obi-Wan offered, kissing her quickly before rising from their bed. Padmé got up as well and grabbed a robe. Soon, Luke's complaints would awaken Leia, and even though she was the smaller of the two, the little girl had a voracious appetite, especially in the morning.

* * *

Once the babies were fed, cleaned, and dressed, Obi-Wan left to do as Padmé had requested. It was at least a quarter-hour walk to the palace from their home, and while he was gone, she decided to entertain the children. She lay down with them upon a blanket she had placed upon the common room floor. Both babies were very attentive and animated, just beginning to make vocal sounds. She spoke to them about Obi-Wan and his bravery, and was trying her best to have their first word be Da-Da. He would be so pleased if they called him that, she imagined. In just a couple of more months it would be possible. She recalled her nieces beginning to speak around nine months, and the twins were now six.

It brought her such joy to hear them attempt to speak, however, and they carried on quite in-depth conversations which consisted of a lot of oohs, gurgles, and drool.

When Obi-Wan returned, she was just beginning to recite the Nabooan Handmaiden Code of Conduct to them.

"Training them early, I see," he announced, joining her on the blanket.

"Leia is particularly interested in politics," Padmé pointed out, while wiping more spittle from Luke's mouth.

"She may take after her mother then. But what about Luke?"

Padmé sobered immediately. She wanted her son to be strong and had the suspicion he may be Force sensitive, but she did not want him to be like his father. Instead, she wished for him to be like Obi-Wan: Sensitive, caring, giving, and loyal to everything that was good.

"He's going to be a Jedi, like his Daddy," she said, intentionally gazing at him with a smile.

She knew Obi-Wan understood her meaning when his eyes misted and he leaned over the babies and kissed her sweetly.

"Now," Padmé sniffled, wiping away an escaped tear of her own with the back of her hand. "Tell me what you found out."

Obi-Wan's mood immediately shifted and he began shaking his head despairingly. "You were right. Yesterday, Atoa was attacked by the 501st Legion with Darth Vader leading them. Hundreds were slaughtered. But why? What advantage did an attack on such a distant system give the Emperor?"

The mechanical voice she had heard in her dream came back to haunt Padmé, and she visibly shuddered. Obi-Wan immediately grasped her hand in support while she repeated the words. "His orders were to kill everyone who was old enough to carry a weapon."

"But why?" Obi-Wan questioned again.

The fine details of her vision were sketchy, and she could only recall bits of conversation. There was so much chaos and destruction occurring in the dream, it was to be expected, however. "I believe Vader was looking for someone. An apparent traitor to the Emperor."

"I see." Obi-Wan pondered, taking a moment to tickle the squirming infants who were desperately wanting to be part of the conversation.

"I hope you do," Padmé announced honestly. "And I hope you understand now why we have to leave Alderaan."

"If what you say is true, we will be leaving behind millions of people to die."

She could detect the sound of defeat in his voice. It wasn't like him. Obi-Wan was used to fighting for what was right and had always been willing to sacrifice everything he had to protect the innocent. She had to give him some hope and put the light back in his eyes.

"I don't know when it will happen. It may be tomorrow, it may be years from now. But if there's time, I think I know a way to prevent that from happening."

Hope had flared in his face, but along with it came grave concern, and he gazed at her with a suspicious brow. "Exactly, what are you considering?"

She wasn't quite ready to tell him the details of her proposal quite yet. He was going to have to be patient a little while longer.

"Before we get to that, I have one more favor to ask of you…"


End file.
